I first tried a sample of this cask back in September 2020 when we had just embarked on the journey of launching Finn Thomson Whisky. Like the company itself, this Mannochmore had its own exciting development ahead. Originally in a refill hogshead, the then 12-year-old sample had a very clean, green apple character that made it the ideal candidate for re-racking into a Pedro Jimenez sherry cask. This delightfully light spirit character is typical of Mannochmore — a distillery that can be overwhelmed by too much cask influence — and requires careful attention.
Over the last 18 months, it’s been a thrill to witness this whisky fulfil its potential. The sherry has boosted its inherent sweetness but not completely taken over by any means. Now is the time to bottle. Despite being cask strength this is an amazingly smooth dram with toffee apple notes aplenty. A fitting release for the launch of our company, both now fully matured.
A – Slightly deeper than mid gold in colour, the medium thick swirl line beads up straight away, and coats the glass.
Finn Thomson Whisky
Appearance
Slightly deeper than mid gold in colour, the medium thick swirl line beads up straight away, and coats the glass.
Nose
Initially I’m getting a dusty, foresty, balsa wood, and tobacco type of nose. Golden syrup and strawberry flavoured ice cream syrup move onto to an earthiness. A mixture of sweetness and cereals are developing together at the moment.
More time and whole nose sweetens. We now have a dusty bag of skittle sweets. The other notes are still here, but very much muted. There is a mineral water aroma here now, with faint eucalyptus. Let’s get into the palate.
Palate
The mouthfeel is rather nice, it’s quite oily, and we’re straight into spices. Chilli heat with cinnamon and cardamom come through with dates, figs, black cherries and dark chocolate initially. Quite quickly it develops into rum and raisin ice cream, with dark berry strudel.
Royal icing brings an imagined soft sweetness, then hazelnut chocolate spread offers something completely opposite. Espresso eventually brings a rough dark feel to the back of the palate, with a meaty beefiness.
Finish
The finish is quite long, and a continuation of the bulk of the palate. The sweetness and darker flavours work very nicely together, running along side each other, you can flip from one to the other.
My thoughts
This is the 4th Mannochmore offering iv’e tasted, and the 3rd from Finn Thomson, all within the past 4-5 weeks. So far i have to say that iv’e really enjoyed them, and this one is another i’ll add to the list. Yes there’s plenty of flavours to enjoy in this whisky, a sweetness runs alongside the spices, which i personally really enjoy. It’s another bottle of whisky i’d love to have in my whisky cupboard.
A big thank you goes out to my whisky friend Alan for sending this generous sample to me. You can follow him as well as us on Twitter using the buttons below.
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